Libertie: Kaitlyn Greenidge with Edwidge Danticat

The Whiting Award-winning writer discusses her second novel, the story of a freeborn Black woman's journey of self-discovery alongside her search for place, identity, and freedom.

Coming of age in Reconstruction-era Brooklyn, Libertie Sampson is all too aware that her mother, a practicing physician, has only one vision for their future together: Libertie is to go to medical school and practice alongside her. Libertie feels stifled by her mother—is there really only one path to an autonomous life? And she is constantly reminded that, unlike her mother, who can pass, Libertie has skin that is seen as too dark. When a young man from Haiti proposes to Libertie and promises she will be his equal on the island, she accepts, only to discover that she is still treated as subordinate to him and all men. As she tries to parse what freedom actually means for a Black woman, Libertie struggles with where she might find it—for herself and for generations to come.

Libertie was inspired by the true life of one of the first Black female doctors in the United States. Kaitlyn Greenidge talks about the book with Edwidge Danticat.

This program will be streamed live on the NYPL event page.

ACCESSIBILITY NOTES
A live transcript will be provided. ASL interpretation is available upon request. Please submit your request at least two weeks in advance by emailing accessibility@nypl.org. A pre-filled Gmail template is available by clicking here. Any media will be accompanied by alt text to reference before the program or by audio description.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Kaitlyn Greenidge's debut novel, We Love You, Charlie Freeman, was one of The New York Times Critic's Top 10 Books of 2016 and a finalist for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. She is a contributing writer for The New York Times, and her writing has also appeared in Vogue, Glamour, The Wall Street Journal, and elsewhere. She is the recipient of fellowships from the Whiting Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Libertie is her second novel. 

Edwidge Danticat is the author of several books, including Breath, Eyes, Memory, The Farming of Bones, and Claire of the Sea Light. She is also the editor of The Butterfly’s Way: Voices from the Haitian Dyaspora in the United States, Haiti Noir, Haiti Noir 2. She has written seven books for young adults and children, as well as a travel narrative, After the Dance, A Walk Through Carnival in Jacmel and a collection of essays, Create Dangerously. She is a 2009 MacArthur Fellow, and a 2020 winner of the Vilceck Prize. Her most recent book, Everything Inside: Stories, is a 2020 winner of The Story Prize, and the National Books Critics Circle Fiction Prize. 

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This event is presented in honor of Francine Houben and Elizabeth Leber through the generous support of Mahnaz Ispahani Bartos and Adam Bartos.

LIVE from NYPL is made possible by the support of Library patrons and friends, as well as by the continuing generosity of Celeste Bartos, Mahnaz Ispahani Bartos and Adam Bartos, and the Margaret and Herman Sokol Public Education Endowment Fund.

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Kaitlyn Greenidge © Syreeta McFadden